27 June 2024 , 13:23
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Prince Harry seemed "vulnerable" as he opened up about the pain he felt following the death of his mother Princess Diana.
The Duke of Sussex encouraged children to talk about their emotions as he sat down for an interview with Nikki Scott, the founder of Scotty's Little Soldiers. Harry, who is a global ambassador for the charity, admitted he "supressed" his grief when his mum died.
Body language expert Judi James has said Harry seemed emotional during the chat. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, she said: "It's clear from Harry's body language here that his personal emotions are being triggered during this conversation about a child's grief at losing a parent."
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Prince Harry opened up about his experience with grief (Scotty's TV/Youtube)She added: "He seems to use power rituals to imply a sense of confidence and authority, sitting back in his chair with his arms and legs splayed and later performing a steepled hand gesture that he holds up in front of his face in what looks like an attempt to self-protect rather than to mirror and lean in to show empathy and maybe make himself more vulnerable, but the build-up starts as he sucks and chews at his lower lip while his left hand fiddles."
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During the interview, Harry listened as Nikki recalled the heartbreaking moment she had to tell her son his father had been killed. Judi said: "Asking 'how did you tell your kids?' he stammers, rubbing his own leg.
"His brows rise and he closes his eyes and shakes his head as though fighting tears and his left hand balls into a fist. As he praises the woman for sharing her story he reverts to the steepling with the hands but this then turns into a praying hands gesture that can signal caring respect.
He spoke about his mother's death (Scotty's Little Soldiers)"To further hint at the triggered emotions he also places a hand on his chest and smacks it with the other hand to signal personal identification." Harry was just 12 years old when his own mother died and he spoke about the realisation that it was better to open up about his grief.
The Duke of Sussex said: "It's so easy as a kid to think or convince yourself….you convince yourself that the person you've lost wants you, or you need to be sad for as long as possible to prove to them that they are missed. But then there's this realisation of, no, they must want me to be happy."
Harry added: "That's the hardest thing, especially for kids, I think, which is, 'I don't want to talk about it because it will make me sad', but once realising that if I do talk about it, I'm celebrating their life, then actually, things become easier' as opposed to this 'I'm just not going to talk about it, and that's the best form of coping', when in fact it's not."
He admitted it can help someone cope "for a period of time," but added: "You can't suppress it for ever. It's not sustainable. And will eat away at you inside."